HI-RISE BACON

China has gone and built the world's tallest pig farm. At 26 stories, and able to slaughter one million pigs per year, it ticks all the boxes for most animals treated cruelly per square inch anywhere on the planet. Experts warn that the conditions will create an increased risk of disease among the 650,000 souls housed therein but these concerns haven't slowed the Chinese who consume half the world's pigs. You'd think they'd be a tad gun shy after losing 100 million pigs to the deadly African swine fever between 2018 and 2020. But what's 100 million pigs when pitted against our palate pleasure.

I am using the word pig deliberately rather than the pre-washed pork, swine - or my personal favorite -  the other white meat. It seems we will do anything to separate ourselves from the reality of what we torment/eat.

Pigs can feel pain, fear, and complex emotions. They learn from each other, show empathy, and enjoy being given brain-teasers. Pigs love to play, and are able to not only anticipate an event but plan for it. Pigs possess the capacity to perceive time and engage in social discrimination. Pigs are also so much like us anatomically and physiologically, they are used in surgical research and training. 

So much like us.